How Do I Import Roster Shifts From a CSV File?

Lightning Payroll supports importing hours, leave, and allowances from a CSV file. This updates your employees' pays for the selected pay run. The import is accessed from the Pays area ÔÇö not from the Rosters screen's Import/Manage Shifts menu item, which opens the timeclock sync dialog instead.

In the Desktop App

1. Open the Pays screen and select the pay run you want to import into.
2. Click the action menu and choose Import/Manage Time And Attendance Data. You can also reach this from the Rosters screen via the same menu item.
3. On the Time & Attendance Format page, select Lightning Payroll (Web App CSV/JSON Format) and click Next.
4. Set the Import Format to CSV (Basic), choose your Employee Identifier (Employee ID or Employee Number), and optionally enter a Default Pay Department.
5. Set the Processed/Paid Date for the imported pays, then browse for your CSV file and click Next.
6. Review the preview. If there are errors, click Export Errors To CSV, fix the file, and re-import. Otherwise click Finish to apply the shifts.

Note: Importing will overwrite any existing rostered shifts for each affected employee in this pay run.

In the Online (Web/Mobile) App

1. Go to Pays and open the pay run you want to import into.
2. From the action menu, choose Import Pay Data (JSON/CSV).
3. Set the Import Format to CSV (Basic) and choose an Employee Identifier (Employee Number or Employee ID).
4. Optionally enter a Default Pay Department to apply to all rows that do not include one.
5. Set the Processed/Paid Date (required) ÔÇö this date is applied to all pays created by the import.
6. Click Download CSV Template to get a correctly formatted starter file, or upload your own CSV file.
7. Click Upload CSV to proceed to the review step. Any row-level errors are shown before the import is committed.
8. If there are no issues, click Finish to create the pays.

CSV Format

The CSV must include a header row. Column names are flexible ÔÇö common alternatives are recognised automatically. The core required columns are:

• employee_id or employee_number ÔÇö identifies the employee (must match the identifier type you selected)
• item_type ÔÇö the type of pay item: hours, leave, or allowance
• description ÔÇö the pay item name as it appears in Lightning Payroll

Additional columns required per row type:

• Hours rows: value (number of hours), and either rate (dollar rate) or multiplier (e.g. 1.5 for time-and-a-half). units defaults to hours if omitted.
• Leave rows: value (hours), leave_type (the leave balance name), date (YYYY-MM-DD format).
• Allowance rows: amount (dollar amount), allowance_category (the STP category code for the allowance).

For a ready-to-use template with all supported columns, use the Download CSV Template button in the online app, or refer to the export file produced by the desktop wizard.